Principal System Hardware Engineer

Technology Innovation Institute (TII) is a publicly funded research institute, based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is home to a diverse community of leading scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and researchers from across the globe, transforming problems and roadblocks into pioneering research and technology prototypes that help move society ahead.

Role Overview

• Define and own system and hardware architecture for Flight Controller and Mission Controller products.
• Lead system requirements, technical roadmaps, and design decisions.
• Drive integration of embedded hardware, software, sensors, communications, and avionics systems.
• Lead technical reviews, risk management, and product validation activities.
• Collaborate with customers, partners, and internal stakeholders on product requirements and solutions.
• Ensure compliance with aerospace, safety, cybersecurity, and environmental standards.
• Mentor engineering teams and provide technical leadership across projects.
  
  

Functional Activities

• Own Flight Controller and Mission Controller architecture.
• Define system requirements and technical roadmaps.
• Lead hardware and HW system integration activities.
• Drive technical reviews, validation, and risk management.
• Collaborate with customers, partners, and stakeholders.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship.
• Ensure compliance with quality, safety, and cybersecurity requirements.
  
  

Industry / Domain

Secure Systems

Necessary Knowledge And Experience

Technical Knowledge

Flight Controller & Mission Systems:

• Deep understanding of UAV Flight Control Systems, Mission Controllers, and Autopilot architectures.
• Knowledge of PX4, ArduPilot, NuttX, RTOS-based systems, and embedded Linux environments.
• Experience with flight dynamics, navigation, guidance, control algorithms, and sensor fusion.
• Understanding of ISR, autonomous operations, swarming, and mission management systems.

Embedded Systems & Hardware Architecture:

• Expertise in ARM-based processors, microcontrollers, SoCs, FPGAs, and real-time embedded systems.
• Strong knowledge of high-reliability hardware architecture and embedded product development.
• Experience with power architecture, redundancy concepts, fault tolerance, and safety-critical design.
• Understanding of hardware interfaces including CAN, CAN-FD, Ethernet, UART, SPI, I2C, RS-422, RS-485, and PCIe.

Sensors & Navigation Systems:

• Experience integrating IMUs, GNSS receivers, magnetometers, barometers, airspeed sensors, and payload systems.
• Knowledge of inertial navigation, GPS-denied navigation, and resilient positioning technologies.
• Understanding of sensor calibration, synchronization, and performance optimization.

Communications & Security

• Understanding of UAV communication architectures, datalinks, mesh networking, and secure communications.
• Familiarity with cybersecurity principles, secure boot, trusted execution environments, encryption, and key management.
• Experience with MAVLink, DDS, ROS2, and other autonomous systems communication frameworks.

Quality, Certification & Compliance

• Knowledge of aerospace and defense development practices.
• Familiarity with DO-160, MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461, NDAA compliance, EMC/EMI requirements, and environmental qualification.
• Understanding of safety, reliability, verification, validation, and certification processes.
• Soft Skills:
• Leadership: Strong leadership skills to guide and mentor team members effectively.
• Communication: Excellent communication skills to collaborate with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and customers.
• Problem-Solving: Ability to analyze complex issues, propose solutions, and make informed decisions
• Adaptability: Willingness to adapt to changing project requirements and industry trends.
  
  

Education And Certification Requirements

• PhD/Masters (preferred)/Bachelors in Computer Science or relevant discipline
  
  

At TII, we help society to overcome its biggest hurdles through a rigorous approach to scientific discovery and inquiry, using state-of-the-art facilities and collaboration with leading international institutions. Our rigorous discovery and inquiry-based approach helps to forge new and disruptive breakthroughs in advanced materials, autonomous robotics, cryptography, digital security, directed energy, quantum computing and secure systems.

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